Strip guide for sewing machines



Oct. 13, 1931. K, MMER 1,827,596

STRIP GUI DE FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Nov. 26, 1927 Patented Oct. 13, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

KARL MAIER, OF STUT'I'GART, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO UNION SPECIAL MASCHINEN- FABRIK, G. M. B. H., OF STUTTGART, GERMANY STRIP GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES 'Applieation filed November 26, 1927, Serial No. 235,870, and in Germany December 81, 1926.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in strip guides for sewing machines, and more particularly to a guide whereby a strip may be stitched to the edge of a fabric section.

An object of the invention is to provide a strip guiding mechanism for sewing machines which is readily adjustable for strips of different widths, into which the strip may be readily inserted, and wherein the strip is put under slight tension which is maintained uniform during the rising and falling of the presser foot, due to the passing of cross seams and the like.

A further object of the invention is to provide a strip guiding mechanism of the above type which is supported by a yielding member carried by a presser bar, which yielding member also serves as an edge guide for the stri These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed. v

In the drawings which show by way of illustration one embodiment of the invention- Figure 1 is an end view of a portion of a sewing machine having the improved strip guiding mechanism applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the presser foot and strip guiding mechanism showing a strip being stitched to a fabric section, and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line A-B of Fig. 2.

The invention is directed broadly to a strip guiding mechanism for sewing machines, and includes a yielding member which is mounted on a presser foot so as to move up and down with the presser foot when it is lifted from the fabric, and so as to project a slight distance beneath the lower face of the main section of the foot and serve as an edge guide for the strip passing beneath the presser foot. Mounted on this yielding member i a rod extending transversely of the line of feed, and on the rod, is in turn mounted a strip guide formed by bending a rod back upon itself, thus providing an opensided recess into which the strip may be readily inserted. This rod with the guiding recess may be adjusted on the rod carried by the yielding member so as to position the same for strips of different widths. It may also be adjusted on said supporting rod carried by the yielding member so as to change the angle or relative arrangement of the rods, and thus vary the tension on the strip as it passes to the stitching mechanism.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the invention is shown as applied to a sewing machine which is provided with a work support 1, and a needle bar 2 carrying a needle or needles 3. The sewing machine is also provided with a presser bar 4 carrying a presser foot 5. The presser foot as shown in the drawings, is provided with two needle openings, and two needles may be provided v on the needle bar which are adapted to pass through said openings, and a single looper or independent loopers may be provided for cooperation with said needles, A main fabric section is indicated at 6 in the drawings, and a strip to be attached thereto is indicated at 7. As clearly shown in Fig. 3, there are two lines of needle loops, one of which passes through both the strip and the fabric section, while the other passes through the strip and past the edge of the fabric section. These needle loops are joined by a looper thread in the well-known way, and thus it is that the strip is secured to the fabric section and the edge of the fabric section covered. The main section 5 of the presser foot is attached to a shank portion 19. The shank portion 19 is provided with a vertical channel. Alongside of the main foot section 5 is a yielding member 15. Said yielding member 15 is attached to'a shank portion 20 adapted to slide in said vertical channel in the main shank 19 of the presser foot. Said shank portion 20 is provided with an elongated slot 22,.through which a pin 21 extends, said pin being carried by the shank of the presser foot. A sprin 23 bearing on the upper end of the shan 20 normally forces said yielding member 15 in a downward direction. The slot 22 is of suflicient length so as to permit the yielding member 15 'to extend below the under face of the foot portion 5 of the presser foot. As clearly shown in Fig. 3, the fabric section 6 passes 10 rod 14. This rod extends transversely of the line of feed and is disposed at a slight distance in front of the main section 5 of the presser foot. Mounted on the rod 14 is a collar 13. This collar 13 is secured to the rod by a set screw 16. The collar 13 supports a guide rod 9. This guide rod is bent back upon itself so as to form parallel guiding members 17 and 18. Between these guiding members is a recess which is open at the right-hand end, as viewed in Fig. 2. The end 11 of the fabric strip 7 is beneath the presser foot, and the end 12 of said strip extends to a suitable supply spool or the like. The strip may be readily placed over the rod 14 and led underneath the presser foot, and may be inserted in the guiding recess 10 by a sidewise movement of the strip as indicated I by the arrow in Fig. 2. Thus it is that the strip may be readily threaded into the guiding mechanism and passed beneath the presser foot. It will be noted from Fig. 1 that the strip 7 passes over the member 18, thence down beneath the member 17 and thence over the rod 14, thence under the presser foot.

This passing of the strip over and under these guiding rods places a tension on the strip so that it is fed smoothly beneath the foot. If the presser foot is raised by reason of a cross seam or in an other way, the yielding member 15 will li ewise move ,up and down, and any movement of the yielding member 15 up or down, will cause a similar movement of the rods 14, 17 and 18, so that the tension on the strip is thus uniform throughout the stitching of the strip to the fabric section. When the presser foot is liftedat the end of a stitching operation for removing the material, the strip guiding mech- 1sm will also be raised with the presser oot. When it is desired to stitch a wider strip than that shown in'the drawings, then the set screw 16 is released and the collar 13 shiftedeither toward or fromv the guiding member 15. The strip passes between the collar 13 and the guiding member, and the collar 13, in a measure, servesas an edge guide for the outer edge of the strip, holding the inner edge of the strip well up "against the guide 15. By shifting the collar, the distance between the guiding faces of the members 13 and 15 may be varied to correspond to the width of the strip.

By loosening the set screw 16, the collar 13 may be angularly adjusted on the rod 14,

and-thus the angular relation of the rods 17 and 18 to the rod'14 varied. By this shifting of the collar 13, the tension on the strip ma be slightl varied.

t will be obvious that minor changes 1n the details of construction and arrangement 7 of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention,-what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- I 1. The combination of a presser foot having a yleldlng edge guiding member at one side thereof, and a strip guiding mechanism mounted on said edge guiding member and including a plurality of'spaced rods extends ing in a direction substantially at right angles to the line of feed, said rods being dis: posed relative to the normal path of travel of the strip whereby the strip when led over and under said rods as it passes tothe presser foot ,will be brought into contact with the rods and tension placed thereon, said strip guiding mechanism being capable of adjustment to various set positions whereby the tension exerted on the strip may be varied 2. The combination of a presser foot having a yielding edge guiding member at one side thereof, and a strip guiding mechamsm mounted on said edge guiding member and including a rod mounted on said yielding edgeguiding member and extending transversely of the line of feed at a distance 1n front of the presser foot, and a strip guid ng devicecarried bysaid rod, said strip guidlng device including spaced guiding members disposed relative to thenormal path of travel of the strip whereby the strip when led over and under said guidingmembers as it passes to the presser foot will'be brought into contact with the guiding members and tenslon placed thereon, said strip guiding devices being capable of adjustment to various set positions whereby the tension exerted on the strip maybe varied.

3. The combination of a presser foot having a yielding edge guiding member at one side thereof, and a strip guiding mechanism mounted on said edge guiding member and including a rod mounted on said yielding edge guiding member and extending transversely of the line of feed at a distance in front of the presser foot, and strip guiding member having an open-sided recess carried by said rod "and located in front of the rod,

mounted on said rod for adjustment endwise' of the rod, and angularly thereon, and a strip guiding rod mounted on said collar, said strip guiding rod being bent back upon itself to provide two strip guiding members substantially parallel with the rod carried by the yielding edge guiding member.

5. The combination of a presser foot having a member extending forwardly thereof and serving as an edge guide for a strip passing beneath the foot, strip guiding mechanism including a rod carried by said forwardly projecting guide, a collar mounted on said rod, a rod carried by said collar and bent upon itself to form parallel spaced guiding members forming an open-sided recess in which a strip may be inserted so that the strip may be led over and under said members and over said rod carried by the edge guide and thence under the presser foot.

6. The combination of a presser foot having a member extending forwardly thereof and serving as an edge guide for a strip passing beneath the foot, strip guiding mechanism including a rod carried by said forwardly projecting guide, a collar mounted on said rod, a rod carried by said collar and bent upon itself to form parallel spaced guidmg members forming a open-sided recess in which a strip may be inserted so that the strip may be led over and under said memers and over said rod carried by the edge guide and thence under the presser foot, and

means for securing said collar to said rod whereby the collar may be adjusted endwise of the rod, or angularly on said rod.

7. The combination of a presser foot and a strip guiding mechanism associated therewith, said strip uiding mechanism being supported by the oot and comprising a plurality of spaced guiding members extending in a direction at right angles to the line of feed and disposed relative to the normal path of travel of the strip whereby the strip when led over and under said guiding members as it passes to the presser foot will be brought into contact with the guiding members and tension placed thereon, said spaced guiding members being capable of adjustment to various set positions whereby the tension exerted on the strip may be varied.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

KARL MAIER. 

